Nangarhar elders ask Taliban to enter intra-Afghan talks

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): The residents of eastern Nangarhar province on Saturday urged the Taliban to enter an intra-Afghan dialogue to end the decades-old conflict in the country.

The demand was echoed at a massive gathering in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, on Saturday, with the participants welcoming recent remarks of National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib about peace negotiations between the US and the Taliban.

Mohib had told reporters and a think tank in Washington that US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad was keeping the Afghan government in the dark about his talks with the Taliban and had personal ambitions in Afghanistan.

“We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t have the kind of transparency that we should have,” Mohib told reporters at a news conference.

He reminded the US that despite championing human rights and freedom of expression, it did not heed calls from the Afghans for inclusion in the peace negotiations

Provincial tribal coordination association members and tribal elders during the gathering at the Tribal and Border Affairs Department in Jalalabad welcomed the NSA views over the peace process and urged the Afghan government to support and accept Mohib’s remarks.

Lal Agha Kakar, the Nangarhar tribal association coordination head, welcomed Mohib’s recent views and called on the Taliban to hold talks with Afghans and urged foreigners not to interference in Afghanistan’s affairs.

Kakar said Mohib was the first Afghan high profile official who explained his national stance to a strong country (the US) and answered them clearly.

Malak Nazir, a Khogyani tribal elder, also asked all the Afghans to support Mohib in order to motivate other officials to take such bold steps.

Chatral Himat Shinwari, another tribal elder, they would never accept interference of any foreign country in the peace negations and asked the Taliban to sit with Afghans for peace talks.

He said the Afghans desired a peace deal with clear objectives and they did not want foreign powers to put their words in Taliban’s mouths.

A number of residents and participants of the event held similar views and welcomed Mohib’s recent remarks about the Afghanistan peace process.

pk/ma

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